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CHAP. 44. (37.)—THE NATURE AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ALL
ANIMALS CONSIDERED LIMB BY LIMB. THOSE WHICH HAVE
TUFTS AND CRESTS.

In addition to what is already stated, we will add an account of every part of the body of an animal, taken limb by limb.

All those which have blood, have a head as well. A small
number of animals, and those only among the birds, have
tufts of various kinds upon the head. The phcenix1 has a
long row of feathers on it, from the middle of which arises
another row; peacocks have a hairy tuft, resembling a bushy
shrub; the stymphalis2 has a sort of pointed crest, and the
pheasant, again, small horns. Added to these, there is the lark,
a little bird, which, from the appearance of its tuft, was
formerly called "galerita," but has since received the
Gallic name of " alauda,"3 a name which it has transferred to
one of our legions.4 We have already made mention, also,
of one bird5 to which Nature has given a crest, which it can
fold or unfold at pleasure: the birds of the coot kind6 have
also received from her a crest, which takes its rise at the
beak, and runs along the middle of the head; while the pie
of Mars, and the Balearic crane, are furnished with pointed
tufts. But the most remarkable feature of all, is the crest
which we see attached to the heads of our domestic fowls,
substantial and indented like a saw; we cannot, in fact,
strictly call it flesh, nor can we pronounce it to be cartilage
or a callosity, but must admit that it is something of a nature
peculiar to itself. As to the crests of dragons, there is no one
to be found who ever saw one.

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